Associate Professor Bill Bales and Karen Mann, the Director of the Center for Criminology & Public Policy Research, have received a subcontract from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to perform research consulting work on the project, “GPS Monitoring Technologies and Domestic Violence: An Evaluation Study”. This multi-state project was funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice

This project examines the effectiveness of Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring of offenders arrested for domestic violence who are released pretrial from a local jail to determine if it is an effective correctional strategy to prevent reoffending. GPS is used extensively at the local jail to relieve the jail population and save taxpayer dollars without jeopardizing public safety. This study will determine whether this technology meets these goals for those arrested for domestic violence.

The results of this study will inform jail systems throughout the country regarding the extent to which GPS is an effective alternative to retaining domestic violence arrestees in jail pretrial to relieve overcrowding and reduce costs.